August 15, 1940: the Battle of the North

That death toll only counts British civilians: the Germans also lost seven Heinkels and eight Messerschmitts. Some of those crew, such as the two were famously crashed on Streatlam near Barnard Castle, survived, but about 15 did not.

So although we think that the Battle of Britain was a southern phenomenon, August 15, 1940, was probably very significant. The German losses were so great that they never again launched such a massive raid against the North, and were content to carry out largely coastal raids. These, too, were lethal, but didn't carry the prospect of such widespread destruction as the raid of August 15.

I've got another take somewhere on this night that I'll look out and put up here when I get a minute. I also notice that the article below mentions Flight-Lieutenant Francis Blackadder. He may well get a mention in next Wednesday's Memories: is he buried in Heighington?

======================================== THE raiders came from Norway, more than 100 of them. "I had never seen anything like it," said Pilot Officer Harry Welford. "They were in two groups - one of about 70 and the other about 40 - like two swarms of bees."

It was Welford's first encounter with the Luftwaffe, and he wasn't impressed with what he saw. "There on our port side at 9,000ft were 120 enemy aircraft, all with the swastika and German crosses as large as life, and they had the gross impertinence to cruise down the Northumberland and Durham coast," he recalled. "They were going to bomb Newcastle and Sunderland and our friends and relations who lived there."

Pilot Officer Welford, from Hilton near Sunderland, was second in command of the 14 Hurricanes of the 607 County of Durham Fighter Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, stationed at RAF Usworth, near Sunderland, on August 15, 1940, when the Germans launched a surprise offensive from occupied Scandinavia.

The squadron had been formed in 1930, one of 12 auxiliary squadrons made up of part-time volunteers. Most of the groundcrew came from Wearside and Tyneside although the pilots, many of whom possessed motor cars, came from across the North-East and the borders of Scotland.

At first, these auxiliary units were dismissed as "weekend fliers", but when war broke out their importance was quickly recognised. County of Durham's first kill came little more than a month into the war when it shot down a Dornier 18 over the North Sea. It was then sent to France where it got caught up in the German Blitzkrieg in May 1940. Its remnants and its six battered aircraft struggled back to England via Boulogne and Dunkirk and began re-equipping at RAF Usworth.

As Winston Churchill said on June 1, 1940: "The Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin."

Much of that Battle was fought in the skies of southern England but on August 15, having given the south a fearful pounding for several days, the Luftwaffe suddenly changed its tactics and switched its attention to the North-East.

About 120 Heinkle III bombers and Messerschmitt 110 fighters were spotted 30 miles north of the Farne Islands at 12.30pm. Spitfires from RAF Acklington in Northumberland were the first in the air followed at 1.15pm by 607's Hurricanes and more Spitfires from RAF Catterick.

607's Squadron Leader was on leave, so Flight-Lieutenant Francis Blackadder took the call sign "Red 1". He originally came from Edinburgh but settled in Heighington, near Darlington, where he died in 1997. Pilot Officer Welford, who died in Devon in 1996, was "Red 2".

They first engaged with the enemy off Whitley Bay and the battle spilled down the Durham coast to the River Tees. "The noise over Sunderland at the height of the raid was terrific," said the Echo.

The British repeatedly drove themselves into the German formation, quickly forcing it to break up. Then they were able to pick off the stragglers.

"We executed our first attack and in spite of the fact that I thought I was being hit all over the place, it was their aircraft that started dropping out of the sky," recalled Welford. "During our next attack I only missed one of our own aircraft doing a sharp breakaway - there could not have been more than two feet between us.

"Eventually I chased a Heinkel and filled that poor devil with lead until first one engine and then the other stopped. I then had the sadistic satisfaction of seeing it crash into the sea."

The Northern Echo reported: "Miners stood on top of a pitheap cheering and waving their caps when a British fighter engaged a bomber fleeing out to sea and shot it down. 'British fighters showing great skill and daring simply routed the raiders', said an eye-witness."

Another eye-witness said: "I saw a big black bomber flying south with two Spitfires on its tail. It kept diving to try to get away from the fighters, but they were on it like terriers."

Another said: "I saw a battle between a Spitfire and what I thought to be a Heinkel III. The Spitfire gave the Nazi two or three bursts as he passed. Flames started to come from the enemy machine and within a second or two the whole plane was alight. One of the German airmen baled out but his parachute caught fire.

"Later a Junkers 88 came across. A red glow was in his port engine. It hedge-hopped for a while before landing in a field. The crew of four scrambled out and came towards us with their arms up-raised. The pilot and machine gunner were wounded. The pilot was given medical attention by a military doctor and showed his appreciation by giving the doctor his gold watch."

Some bombers, though, did get through. In Sunderland, three people were killed sheltering in a house. "They had refused an invitation to go into a nearby garden shelter, saying that they thought they would be all right in the house," reported the Echo. "'I left them sitting at the foot of the stairs while I went down to my shelter,' said Mr Robert Miller. 'Suddenly there was a terrific crash and I felt the shelter rock. A piece of glass gashed my chin, but otherwise I was unhurt."

Four other people were killed in villages along the Durham coast, including ten-year-old William Harrison who had been evacuated from Hebburn. He had been delivering congratulatory messages to a wedding party when "a piece of shrapnel pierced his heart".

As the German aircraft became desperate to flee their attackers, they started jettisoning their bombs. In one coastal field, 13 cows and two horses were killed.

"The casualty list was comparatively light in view of the number of planes which took part and the number of bombs dropped," said The Northern Echo.

County of Durham returned to base satisfied with its afternoon's work. At least 15 German aircraft had been shot down with 607 accounting for six Heinkels and two Messerschmitts. All British planes and men returned safely.

"I reckoned to have damaged one in the first attack and then saw the Heinkel hit the sea," said Welford. "They were my first bloods and I was elated, especially when I later discovered that the squadron had not suffered any losses."

County of Durham went on to have many other fine hours during the Second World War. It took part in the climax of the Battle of Britain on September 15, before moving east to India and Burma where it destroyed 38 Japanese aircraft.

But the afternoon of August 15, 1940, was probably its finest because over the Durham coast it saved its own people from the wrath of the Luftwaffe.

The Northern Echo concluded its report with a snatched interview with some German airmen who had been captured to the south of Sunderland. It said: "The pilot, when asked how he had been shot down, replied: 'Hurricane. Very, very good. Rat-a-tat.'"